Page 38 - the NOISE October 2014

AT LefT: The cast of God of Carnage closes in on opening night. A THEATRICAL EXPLOSION TOP riGHT: Michael Levin gets into character with a sticky
the tRoUPe WhooPs UP oCtoBeR cellphone ear while Joe Maniglia practices his drinking.
BOTTOM riGHT: Adrienne Bischoff, Becky Dagget & Mr. Levin in a heated scene.
BYCLAIR ANNA ROSE PHOTOS BY RENE
R. RIVAS
oh, the CARnAGe
Theatrikos production of God of Carnage, directed by Jan rominger opened at the Doris Harper-White Community Playhouse September 26.
Nearing the premier date, I return to Theatrikos to watch rehearsals and to speak with the cast.
Joe Maniglia, who works at Theatrikos as the education director of Theatrikids, tells me how his character in God of Carnage differs from previous roles and his own personality.
“There are parts of my character easily accessible to me, and parts of him just not similar to myself. It’s been interesting. Most of the characters I play are versions of myself and this would be one of them but there’s enough dissimilarities there that he makes it interesting. He has two kids, that at first he seems to love, but as you hear him talk, there’s built up re- sentment there. It’s interesting to hear him say some pretty hurtful things. At some level he feels somewhat trapped in the situation that he’s in. That’s a sad place for a parent to be.”
In the front lobby of the playhouse, there are some oblig- ing red lawn chairs that seat Adrianne Bischoff and I as we discuss the playwright of God of Carnage.
“yasmina reza is my favorite playwright,” Ms. Bischoff tells me. “As soon as I found out that Theatrikos was going to be doing God of Carnage I wanted to be involved in it. I consider myself really, really lucky that I got picked because a good number of good actors auditioned for this play. I like that Reza deals in language. All the drama and action is in ex- changes between people. The toughest and most fascinating aspect of being human is how we use our language. We use it every day, we throw it away, we toss away our words, we don’t think about what we’re really saying to people and what the actions underneath those words are. Reza understands that very well. She understands what you’re really trying to get from another person when you’re talking to them.”
Becky Dagget gives a little background on her character: “Veronica considers herself a very moral, enlightened person and we see her lose that veneer as the play goes on. I relate to every character I’ve ever portrayed, but I’ve had to work
harder to understand Veronica. Reza is a tremendously tal- ented writer and she has created four people who we could study for years and still be discovering things about them.”
“Alan is a lawyer representing a pharmaceutical company,” Michael Levin tells me about his role. “He is the most honest of the characters and, perhaps, the rudest. He tells it like it is, boorishly and ruthlessly. On top of that, he’s on his cell phone a lot. It’s not too far of a stretch for a teacher to play a lawyer and I’m really trying to bring all of my humanness to him. To not play him as the stereotypical slimy lawyer, but make him complex and complicated. The biggest challenge I’ve had with him is he’s on his Smartphone a lot. It’s difficult as an actor to be engaged in three different conversations, two of
which are non sequitur to what’s happening on stage. Also, I own a rather primitive cell phone and much of the time I don’t even know where it is.”
God of Carnage will play through October 12. the PlAyWRiGht’s CAFÉ
This September Theatrikos presents a new series, The Playwright Café. Beginning October 26 at Charly’s in the Weatherford Hotel, one original play a month will be per- formed through May 2015. Minimally staged, the plays in this series were chosen by the Theatrikos Artistic Committee and many of the scripts were runners-up for the inaugural Local Playwrights Contest.
Seth Muller tells me about his play that will debut the Playwright Café. “Monsters is six interconnected plays and each story has some kind of monster in it,” Mr. Muller de- scribes. “For a few examples, the first play within the play is called Blood/Drive and it is about a vampire. The second play, In the Red, is set in a house with three characters while a zom- bie-like apocalypse is happening outside and they’re in crisis mode. Another play called The Wolf Below, is about a single father raising a teenage daughter, and he happens to be a werewolf. With each of the six, there is a real monster and a potential figurative monster — like an obsession or an addic- tion or a denial — that lurks in the play. The fun is in how the audience interprets that aspect of it. It’s positioned as a dark comedy. My dream is for theatre companies to see it as pos- sible Halloween-themed programming.”
When Mr. Muller’s daughter asked him if monsters were real, the idea for this play began to form. “I told her yes and no, which was not the best thing to say to a four-year-old,” he says. “I realized it was an interesting question, though. Are there truly monsters in the world? Or is that just a label we use? Is a murderer a monster? Is a corrupt politician a mon- ster? A child abuser? It becomes interesting to think about and explore in a stage play.”
“I want to note I’m in love with the Playwright Cafe idea because we’re taking the performance out of the playhouse and into a pub, Charly’s to be exact, for a different kind of the- atrical experience,” Mr. Muller explains. “It’s a chance for peo- ple to see actors in action and plays in motion for a little less money, five bucks at the door, and in a casual atmosphere. It’s my view that in Flagstaff, playwriting has become a scene. This is fueled primarily by the northern Arizona Playwriting Showcase — or NAPS, which has many local writers submit- ting and hoping for a win, and a series of workshops hosted by NAPS. Ann Cummins at the NAU Department of English has taken the lead on this and her partnership with Theat- rikos has brought the writerly and dramatic circles together really well. Now, the hope is that NAPS and the workshops will be joined by this third thing, Playwright Cafe, to inspire
local voices to translate works to the stage.”
Monsters is directed by Mary Guaraldic, with a cast made
up of local actors Tony & Linda Sutera, Jessalyn Carpino, Gill Green, nick rabe, and Joshua Heredia.
FRoM the enD to the BeGinninG
Winner of the Local Playwright’s contest, Kate Hawkes’ play, Sky...Diamonds will be performed at the Doris Harper White Community Play house the weekend of October 17.
Ms. Hawkes began writing Sky...Diamonds in 2003. This play follows the main character, stricken with Alzheimer’s, backwards through time.
“I did choose to write the narrative backwards in time — beginning at the end and working back to her 60th birthday when she was at her height of energy and laid out all the things she planned to do in the next decade,” Ms. Hawkes ex- plains. “By then we have seen what actually happened. I also want the audience to be confused, a little off-balance, with references to things that have happened not making sense
— until the very end. In a way, to have the experience of a person with Alzheimer’s where pieces of the story are missing and they don’t quite know what is happening.”
“By the 2nd to last scene the story is complete — the au- dience will see who she was before the ultimate destruction of her character, energy and capacity,” Ms. Hawkes continues.
“They see that with the heart breaking knowledge of what happened to her. The final scene is a repeat of where the play began, but this time we hear her son trying to get through to her, whereas the first time we are in her head and can’t hear anything except broken music by the Beatles – ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.’”
Ms. Hawkes tells me his play is not about Alzheimer’s, but about family. “I hope the audience leaves with an apprecia- tion of the elders in our midst and the value of storytelling as a means of connecting to and knowing each other, and to honor the role of compassion and love in our lives.”
John Tannous, who plays a title character, says of the play: “I think everyone will find something in this play that connects
in some way to their experience with family, identity, belong- ing, and loss. It’s brilliantly written; Kate’s script is nuanced, in- telligent and touching. As we work through rehearsals, we all continue to unearth new gems of meaning.”
Sky...Diamonds is directed by nichole Garrison, and is performed 7:30PM October 17 & 18 and 2PM October 19.
For more information on all these performances, dust off your laptop & visit Theatrikos.com or call 928-774-1662.
| Clair Anna Rose dons her hats for many roles.
arts@thenoise.us
38 • OCTOBER 2014 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us